GoodGuide Nail Polish Ratings

You may not use foot and nail care products that often, and you probably use only a very small amount. But they do come with some unsafe chemicals worth avoiding, including dibutyl phthalate, which is linked to immune, endocrine, nervous and reproductive system problems, and is banned entirely for cosmetics use in the European Union. You may also find formaldehyde (listed either as itself or as DMDM hydantoin), a common foot and nail care product preservative and carcinogenic ingredient that’s toxic to human immune, nervous, and respiratory systems. (more)

Another chemical to watch for that’s found pretty much exclusively in nail care products is toluene, a solvent that’s also a developmental, reproductive, and nervous system toxic. Acetone, a neurotoxin and eye and skin irritant, is another solvent found mainly in nail products. Nail care products labeled acetone-free still may contain ethyl acetate, also a neurotoxin and irritant.

As with all personal care products, foot and nail care products also often contain what’s labeled as “fragrance”—an industry-secret blend of chemical ingredients that’s linked to allergy and toxin concerns, and often conceals the presence of phthalates.

In foot and nail care products, like almost every kind of personal care product, it’s worth avoiding the ingredient triclosan, a wildlife toxin that could lead to the rise of drug-resistant bacteria.

Foot moisturizers also sometimes contain triethanolamine, a possible immune and organ system toxin that could be contaminated with carcinogenic nitrosamines, sodium methylparaben, controversial for its links to breast cancer and endocrine disruption, and aluminum starch octenylsuccinate, a neurotoxin with heavy metal contamination concerns.

You’ll also see cetereath-20, a chemical that’s sometimes contaminated with the possible carcinogen 1,4-dioxane, and which also opens up your skin and allows other chemical ingredients in the product to better absorb into your bloodstream. To avoid those chemicals, check through our ingredient ratings for foot and nail care products, or look for products with high health and environmental ratings. You can also use our ratings system to search for products that haven’t been tested on animals—which many of the products with strong chemicals in them have.